Joseph Bernardin

The cardinal is dying, and he is dying a remarkable death. Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin, leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, is gravely ill, so close now to the end that when word of his condition on Wednesday reached bishops at a national meeting in Washington, the group bowed as one to pray for him. Even until that very moment, Bernardin has spent months teaching his last lesson by sharing his final earthly days with the entire world.

In Cardinal Joseph Bernardin's final hours of consciousness, a close friend showed him the galley proofs of his memoirs, completed less than two weeks earlier. "The two of us were sitting on the edge of his bed," Msgr. Kenneth Velo recalled. "I said, 'Cardinal, the book has been typed. It's ready for the printer.' And I . . . fanned it in front of him. He looked at it and nodded with great delight." As the hours passed and the cardinal became comatose, his loved ones kept vigil around his bed.

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago denied under oath that he sexually assaulted a former seminary student and asked a court for a quick disposition of the case. "I feel it is important to resolve this matter as quickly as possible," the 65-year-old prelate said.

Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin, the son of Italian immigrants who rose to become the nation's senior Catholic Church official, was mourned Wednesday as a man who used his own graceful death as his last sermon. His funeral Mass, celebrated by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles before 1,300 friends, religious leaders and politicians, followed two days of mourning during which more than 90,000 people filed past his coffin at Holy Name Cathedral in an around-the-clock visitation.

Surgeons took out a cancerous kidney from Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, 67, on Monday, along with a golf-ball-sized mass on his pancreas that they said might also be malignant. "For the moment the news is good," said Dr. Gerard V. Aranha, the chief surgeon. "Even if it was cancerous, it was small and contained." Doctors also removed parts of Bernardin's stomach, small intestine, bile duct and lymph nodes. They found a small benign tumor on Bernardin's liver and removed it.

February 20, 1988 | Compiled from Times staff and wire service reports

Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago asked Congress this week to support a sense-of-the-Congress resolution opposing the right to die. In a letter to all members of Congress, Bernardin, chairman of the Committee for Pro-Life Activities of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the resolution would give Congress an opportunity to take a stand against a "misguided campaign" to legalize physician-assisted euthanasia and "rational" suicide. Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.

Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin, archbishop of Chicago, checked into the Loyola University Medical Center for exploratory surgery to determine if he has pancreatic cancer. Tests have indicated that the 67-year-old cardinal has a tumor in his pancreas and an abnormality of the right kidney. Bernardin, who visited his mother before going to the hospital, received a telephone call from Pope John Paul II.

A man who recanted his accusations that Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin had sexually molested him has died from complications related to AIDS, the Chicago archdiocese said Friday. "I was very saddened to learn of the death of Steven Cook," Bernardin said in a statement. "The reconciliation between Steven and myself last December was a blessed event for both us us." Cook, 36, died in Cincinnati. He carried HIV in 1993 when he accused Bernardin and another priest of molesting him in the mid-1970s.

Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin has been found to have what is probably pancreatic cancer and will undergo exploratory surgery next week, the Archdiocese of Chicago said Friday. Dr. Warren Furey told reporters that the prognosis for the type of cancer the 67-year-old prelate appears to have is usually "not good," but he expressed hope that in this case the diagnosis had been made early enough. He said surgery was expected on Monday.

In Cardinal Joseph Bernardin's final hours of consciousness, a close friend showed him the galley proofs of his memoirs, completed less than two weeks earlier. "The two of us were sitting on the edge of his bed," Msgr. Kenneth Velo recalled. "I said, 'Cardinal, the book has been typed. It's ready for the printer.' And I . . . fanned it in front of him. He looked at it and nodded with great delight." As the hours passed and the cardinal became comatose, his loved ones kept vigil around his bed.

Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin of Chicago, whose gentle manner, passion for conciliation and courage in the face of death touched the lives of ordinary Roman Catholics and world leaders alike, died Thursday. He was 68. The senior active cardinal in the United States and one of the most prominent ecclesiastical figures in the nation, Bernardin died at his residence surrounded by family and friends, including Cardinal Roger M.

The cardinal is dying, and he is dying a remarkable death. Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin, leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, is gravely ill, so close now to the end that when word of his condition on Wednesday reached bishops at a national meeting in Washington, the group bowed as one to pray for him. Even until that very moment, Bernardin has spent months teaching his last lesson by sharing his final earthly days with the entire world.

For years ferment in the Roman Catholic Church has seethed within the ranks of the laity over a host of controversial issues, from the ordination of women to birth control. Until now, American bishops--with the exception of several high profile liberals--have publicly remained above it all. But cracks have begun to appear in the face of official unity so carefully constructed by the U.S. hierarchy.

A man who recanted his accusations that Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin had sexually molested him has died from complications related to AIDS, the Chicago archdiocese said Friday. "I was very saddened to learn of the death of Steven Cook," Bernardin said in a statement. "The reconciliation between Steven and myself last December was a blessed event for both us us." Cook, 36, died in Cincinnati. He carried HIV in 1993 when he accused Bernardin and another priest of molesting him in the mid-1970s.

Surgeons took out a cancerous kidney from Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, 67, on Monday, along with a golf-ball-sized mass on his pancreas that they said might also be malignant. "For the moment the news is good," said Dr. Gerard V. Aranha, the chief surgeon. "Even if it was cancerous, it was small and contained." Doctors also removed parts of Bernardin's stomach, small intestine, bile duct and lymph nodes. They found a small benign tumor on Bernardin's liver and removed it.

Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin, archbishop of Chicago, checked into the Loyola University Medical Center for exploratory surgery to determine if he has pancreatic cancer. Tests have indicated that the 67-year-old cardinal has a tumor in his pancreas and an abnormality of the right kidney. Bernardin, who visited his mother before going to the hospital, received a telephone call from Pope John Paul II.

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, accused last November of sexual abuse, was exonerated of all charges Monday when a former high school seminary student dropped a $10-million lawsuit against the prominent churchman, saying that his memory was unreliable. Attorneys for Steven J. Cook told a federal court in Cincinnati that although Cook, now 34, believes he had been sexually abused when he was a 17-year-old seminarian in the mid-1970s, he no longer could be sure that it was Bernardin.

When Cardinal Joseph Bernardin apologized publicly last week for mistakes made in the case of a priest here accused of sexual misconduct, he underscored the complexity of the problem and the church's uncertainty in how to deal with it, according to several experts. Bernardin issued an apology to the church at large and another to angry members of St. Odilo's Church, who had learned recently that their former pastor left his post after being accused of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin has been found to have what is probably pancreatic cancer and will undergo exploratory surgery next week, the Archdiocese of Chicago said Friday. Dr. Warren Furey told reporters that the prognosis for the type of cancer the 67-year-old prelate appears to have is usually "not good," but he expressed hope that in this case the diagnosis had been made early enough. He said surgery was expected on Monday.

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, accused last November of sexual abuse, was exonerated of all charges Monday when a former high school seminary student dropped a $10-million lawsuit against the prominent churchman, saying that his memory was unreliable. Attorneys for Steven J. Cook told a federal court in Cincinnati that although Cook, now 34, believes he had been sexually abused when he was a 17-year-old seminarian in the mid-1970s, he no longer could be sure that it was Bernardin.